The sound of shoe heels echoed in the empty hallway.
“Where are you going?”
Yoon Taehee grabbed Jaegyeom’s wrist and led him out of the first meeting room, leaving behind Do Nayoung and the other successful applicants, who were frozen with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. Jaegyeom had a confused look on his face and was being dragged along by Yoon Taehee.
Those who were walking down the annex hallway glanced at Yoon Taehee and Jaegyeom with curious eyes, but they did not pretend to notice anything. They did not recognise Yoon Taehee’s face. It was a good thing he hadn’t come wearing a mask and entered with a bare face, because he would have been stopped and greeted in a hassle. Yoon Taehee maintained his cool stride without replying. Meanwhile, Jaegyeom, who was looking around at the surrounding people, lowered his voice and asked again.
“Hey, I’m asking you. Where are you going…”
“Anywhere we can be alone?”
Yoon Taehee said in a smiling voice. What was he saying now? Jaegyeom slightly narrowed his eyes at the meaningless answer. As soon as he turned the corner of the hallway, Yoon Taehee found an empty small conference room. As he opened the door and went inside, the hand holding Jaegyeom’s wrist fell away. It was dark inside the small conference room with the lights off.
The two stood facing each other and stared at each other in the darkness.
After a short silence, Yoon Taehee stretched out his long arms and slowly traced the wall. With a click, he turned on the switch and the small conference room was illuminated. Yoon Taehee sat down at an angle at a long table and lightly tapped the side with his palm.
“Sit.”
He smiled and nodded to Jaegyeom, who was just standing blankly. Jaegyeom blinked at the playful gesture of respect. Fiddling with the strap of his cross bag for a moment, he then sat down lightly on the table.
“It’s been a while since I saw your face like this.”
Yoon Taehee turned his body and met his gaze. Perhaps it was because he put his hair up, something felt a little different today to Jaegyeom. It’s been a while since he had seen him, so that was probably it. There was a strong smell of perfume wafting over. Jaegyeom stared straight ahead listlessly.
“I thought we were doing an ‘orentation’ or whatever. But is it okay to come out like this?”
“Ah, orentation… The ‘Chief-nim’ will personally handle this.”
When Yoon Taehee responded with a small smile, Jaegyeom wrinkled the corners of his eyes and gave him a disapproving look. Ever since he heard ‘Chief-nim’, he seemed to be in quite a good mood. Of course, Yoon Taehee was not one to be concerned about his rank, and he was not very conscious of his position. If anything, he was closer to the indifferent side.
However, the fact that he dared to use Jaegyeom’s mouth to make the introduction on his behalf was an action that contained an explicit message on his part. It was also a kind of warning. Like declaring that he was this person’s successor and that in turn this person was his successor. If the story spread later, no one would treat Jaegyeom carelessly.
He didn’t want to see insignificant flies hovering around him like he did today.
“Did it hurt?”
Yoon Taehee suddenly stretched out his hand and touched Jaegyeom’s face. It was a careful and gentle touch. Jaegyeom paused slightly and looked at the other. Although it was still tingling, his pain had almost subsided. Hwang Seungsoo’s spiritual energy was crude and clumsy, so it did not lead to any internal injuries but he was slightly swollen.
“It would be a good idea to go to the treatment room and get some ice.”
Jaegyeom jerked his head to the side, away from Yoon Taehee’s touch.
“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Qts vlv sbe rajs ralii?”
Tbbc Kjftff jrxfv, klatvgjklcu tlr tjcv yjmx klatbea mbwwfcalcu bc tlr gfjmalbc.
“Tbe abiv wf cba ab rajcv bea rlcmf la’r atf olgra vjs.”
“Dea sbe jigfjvs rajcv bea ogbw sbeg mibatfr?”
Tbbc Kjftff rwlifv. Jibatfr? Qbcvfglcu kts tf kjr revvfcis yglculcu atlr eq, Ajfusfbw ibbxfv vbkc jcv qeiifv bc tlr sfiibk rkfjartlga.
“What about the clothes? Jeongju told me to wear this.”
After a moment of silence, Yoon Taehee muttered to himself.
“If he even picks out clothes for you, you guys must be very close.”
“It’s because I don’t go out much. Jeongju helps me a lot.”
‘Is that so… ?’ Yoon Taehee nodded thoughtfully.
“Are these clothes strange?”
“No, it’s like a forsythia, it’s nice.”
Forsythia? The word sounded somewhat like an insult… Jaegyeom raised the corners of his eyes and looked at Yoon Taehee.
“It’s unexpected. I didn’t know you were such a good listener.”
Yoon Taehee smiled as he adjusted his rolled up sleeves.
“As long as it wasn’t bullshit, I’ve always listened carefully.”
“…”
He then silently knitted the tips of her eyebrows. For some reason, it felt like he had been talking bullshit all this time…
“Anyway, you did well today.”
Jaegyeom touched his lips without responding to the straightforward compliment. The voice that came out like a whisper was very affectionate. It’s hard to believe that it’s the same person who brutally slapped Hwang Seungsoo in the face just moments ago… Thinking about it, until recently, whenever they met, they were busy fighting with each other. But since they have met, it did not seem like they ever had such a peaceful conversation.
“I heard you received a gold pass?”
“Mhm… It wasn’t a big deal.”
“As expected of our lord.”
Jaegyeom lowered his gaze and wiggled his hands in silence.
‘No one dares to touch, but I actually got a little upset when someone else did.’
‘But what should I do? My anger is not quite relieved yet.’
He knew Yoon Taehee’s true colors… but he felt confused today. He kept trying to make that smile look real. Why? Was it because he’s wearing his bangs up? He was strangely unable to get used to it. He stared straight ahead and asked bluntly.
“So anyway, why did you come out?”
“Huh?”
“Why did you intervene?”
Yoon Taehee, who was rolling his eyes around, playfully tilted his head.
“Well… Because I want to help my lord?”
Jaegyeom replied, still keeping his eyes fixed on the front.
“I could have done it. I’d beat him the fuck up.”
“Yes, I was afraid that would be the case. I’m afraid a certain someone might get carried away.”
Yoon Taehee laughed and brushed it off lightly. For some reason, Jaegyeom felt a little discouraged. In the end, it sounded like he was afraid that the incident would escalate into a big problem. Hwang Seungsoo should be thankful to Yoon Taehee. He was going to half-kill him…
“If anyone touches you again in the future, tell me.”
Jaegyeom rolled his eyes at Yoon Taehee’s words.
“Don’t worry about me, mind your own business.”
What was there to say? If so, it would be like becoming the same as Hwang Seungsoo. He knew very well that Yoon Taehee was a pretty good defense. When he announced the identity of Chief Yoon Taehee-nim’ earlier, everyone looked in disbelief. Even though they didn’t know his face, he had a vague sense of the great reputation that the name had.
“It’s my job to worry about you.”
Yoon Taehee, who was laughing slightly, answered calmly while again adjusting his rolled up sleeves.
“You’re someone I managed to obtain after suffering failure after failure, so how can I not care? Moreover, you have successfully put the first step in the treason plot. It’s just the beginning.”
At Naryecheong, Yoon Taehee had quite a good reputation. The majority of people who mentioned him so far all had a favorable opinion of him. Even if the successful candidates spoke about the brutal side they showed in the conference room, people would not easily believe them. Chief Yoon was just sweet and kind.
“…”
Jaegyeom silently played with the strap of his crossbody bag. The first step in a treason. When he heard those words, his sense of reality suddenly became clearer. That’s right, he came here to participate in Yoon Taehee’s treason and destroy Naryecheong. He had to maintain a distance and get used to the fact that he would use Yoon Taehee and Yoon Taehee would use him.
Jaegyeom, who was facing forward, turned his head and made eye contact with the other.
“Okay, let’s do the orentation or whatever.”
Yoon Taehee raised one of his eyebrows at the blunt words. It felt like the warmth that had been building in the conversation had suddenly become lukewarm, as though reminding them to stay true to their purpose. Staring at Jaegyeom, he spoke slowly.
“There’s no need to rush about that…”
“What else can we do right now?”
Yoon Taehee laughed at the cold response.
“Plenty. We have a mountain of work to do.”
“So what is it?”
“First…”
Thinking for a moment, he tilted his head.
“Shopping?”
***
“Where is this?”
Jaegyeom was buried in the passenger seat with a pouty face. This was Yoon Taehee’s car, where the engine had stopped running. They left the main office about 30 minutes ago.
“It’s a department store.”
Yoon Taehee responded politely and unfastened his seatbelt.
He had guided Jaegyeom to his black sedan, insisting that he had to buy the things he needed. He put the awkward Jaegyeom in the passenger seat and immediately drove off. The car ran smoothly and arrived at the underground parking lot of a department store.
“Shall we get off?”
Jaegyeom unfastened his seat belt and immediately opened the car door. He felt like he was going to suffocate and die as they were alone in a small space. Yoon Taehee also got out of his car, putting on a suit jacket that he had left in the backseat. “My lord, come this way.” Jaegyeom sniffed the smell of the basement carpark in disdain, and then wandered over to Yoon Taehee, as if trying to distract himself.
“Have you ever been to a department store?”
“No…”
Yoon Taehee opened the glass door entering the building, and he gestured with his hand politely like a gentleman. Jaegyeom entered accordingly with a sour face.
ahhh something is cookinggggg